The Anonymous Letter
by Dearlady2002
Summary: Severus Snape survived Nagini's attack, though it left him irrevocably damaged in some ways. Can an anonymous letter show him that someone cares, that he was worth saving? A one-shot turned short story, written as canon-compliant as possible. This is a COMPLETE story- FINAL CHAPTER IS NOW POSTED! Rating is only for a few paragraphs of the last chapter; minor lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**The Anonymous Letter**  
by Dearlady2002

Severus Snape survived Nagini's attack, though it left him irrevocably damaged in some ways. Can an anonymous letter show him that someone cares, that he was worth saving?

* * *

Bright, nearly blinding white lights flashed by overhead, forcing Severus to snap his eyes shut against their onslaught. They continued to flash by as red flares seen through his eyelids. He heard several voices speaking above him urgently, but could not make out any of the words. He coughed again, and winced against the additional pain.

"Bloody hell, that hurt," he said, but what his ears heard sounded like drowned Goblin, not the Queen's English. It didn't matter; it seemed that none of the voices above him heard his complaint anyway. He braved the harsh lights and opened his eyes again as he heard a new, beautiful voice above him.

He nearly died from shock.

An attractive, blue-eyed woman, her face framed in long blonde hair, was looking down at him with a worried expression. When she saw that he had opened his eyes, the woman smiled and spoke to him. His drug-addled mind could not understand the words, but her tone and the inflections were beautiful and calming. The bright lights behind her blocked out everything else in his field of vision, until all he could see was her haloed face. She was an angel, surely..

"An..gel.." he managed to gasp out hoarsely, before he lost consciousness.

* * *

"Merlin! Another one? I hate Death Eaters."

"They thought he was dead. They just found him; McGonagal and Kingsley brought him here as soon as they could."

"Just take him to the Dementors now, he's _a Death Eater_! Look at his arm!"

"Oi! We're saving him, the Ministry can sort 'em all out later."

"Fat lot of good it does us to save 'im, if they're just going to give 'im the Kiss, later, innit? Where is that girl? They said 'e is to be _'er_ responsibility!"

"What's this bag he has with him?"

"Don't touch that! We're not sure what are in the vials, and as this man is a Potions Master, it could be some very ghastly things, indeed. We've already Geminoed the set and sent it down to the labs. Glaswell should be able to tell us by morning what they all are-"

"By morning he might be dead," a woman's voice interrupted as she matched her pace to the levitating gurney's. "We don't have time to wait to find out what he's already taken; my bet would be a Blood Replenishing potion and Dittany, at the very least. How are his vitals?" She looked down at the black-haired man and ran some diagnostic charms over his form. "Stabilizing, but we could still lose him." She was running a second set of tests, focusing on his bleeding neck, when the man's dark eyes snapped open and immediately widened when they met hers.

"Hello, there, Sunshine," she told him, having not yet read his chart to find out his real name. "Just hang in there and everything will be okay."

The man's gaze swept over her face for a moment, before he managed to find what was left of his voice.

"An..gel.." he managed to gurgle out around the blood, just before passing out again.

The other Healers looked at the woman, who had gone very white.

"Do you _know_ this man, Angelica?"

"No," the woman shook her head.

* * *

Author's Note:  
This isn't a beta'd story, but it is a COMPLETED story- it's all written, start to finish, and I'll be posting it in full as soon as I can (probably within a few days). I'd love to hear what you think, so please review!


	2. Chapter 2

May.

Severus stared out the rain-streaked window of his room at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and heaved a quiet sigh. He hated this time of year. In addition to the near-constant downpour of rain, it also brought back memories of a previous May in particular. If he would have, somehow, been able to forget about it all, the blasted newspapers did their best to be sure no one forgot. It never got easier seeing the names; acquaintances, friends, even former students, all snuffed out like the candles in the Great Hall. He'd read his own name among the list of the dead twice now.

Still, he'd come a long way in the past two years. He knew that most people would consider going from what had to be considered clinically dead, to alive and mostly fully-functioning, to be a success. He'd had a long and bitterly hard road to get to where he was today, but in the end, he knew that things had turned out far better than he could have ever hoped for.

The only reason that he'd miraculously survived Nagini's attack, in his opinion, was because of his lovingly named 'C-Y-A kit' that he had taken to discreetly carrying with him that final year. It was his version of a first-aid kit for all worst-case scenarios: he'd had the small leather pouch stocked with everything from Blood Replenishing potion, Essence of Dittany, several different varieties of antivenins (including one newly created version that he had successfully used when Arthur Weasley had been attacked), and a few substances that would be deemed illegal, had the world at large known they even existed. He had created these very powerful potions knowing that they would either kill him or cure him; at the time, he truly hadn't cared which happened.

Looking back, the potion he had been most proud of was his highly experimental, synthetic version of diacetylmorphine. It was, by any other name, Muggle heroin, but he had taken it knowing it was the only thing strong enough to overcome the severe pain he had been in. It was also the only drug able to fully suppress the harsh, uncontrolled fits of coughing he had suffered from while his very damaged throat took several agonizing months to heal. The potion had saved his life, but at a cost; he'd had to work to free himself of the monkey on his back afterwards.

A soft knock on his door pulled his attention away from the rainy London scenery and his musings.

"Severus?" One of the junior Healers, Angelica, poked her head inside the room after a moment. "Dinner will be ready downstairs in about ten minutes, if you'd like to join us," she told him warmly, as she did every evening.

He had been in no state to eat at all today, but he gave her a polite nod, and she closed the door behind her as she went back to her duties.

Though he'd become friendly with many of the Healers and staff at St. Mungo's, Angelica was his favorite among them. When he was brought in to the hospital two years prior, under the cover of nightfall and a cloaking spell to boot, she'd immediately been appointed to him. After all, who in the wizarding world would really mind if a junior Healer accidentally made a dosing mistake, killing a man accused of being not only a Death Eater, but Albus Dumbledore's murderer, and a traitor as well? He snorted. If her superiors had known what an incredibly skilled woman she was, even then, they'd have never appointed her to him. How it must gall them to this day, to know that he survived..

He remembered those first few nights, hovering between the world of the living and the dead. As he caught glimpses of her, clad in white, with her pale blonde hair, he had been nearly convinced that she was an angel, coming for him. When he'd finally woken from the drug-induced stupor, he had been startled to find that his "angel" was still there, waiting by his bedside with her watchful blue eyes.

He knew that it had been her calming voice he heard soothing him when the nightmares overwhelmed him in the middle of the night, her steady hand in his when the pain got to be too much to bear alone, her very presence that had given him the strength to fight when he had no will left to continue.

He had no words to convey the thanks that he owed this woman, which was just as well, for he'd never be able to tell her. That damned snake had silenced the velvet-voiced Potions Master forever.

* * *

Author's Note:

In case you aren't familiar with the abbreviation, C.Y.A stands for "cover your #ss". Snape knew that stuff was going to hit the fan- how could you not?- and therefore was trying to safeguard himself the best way he knew how- with potions.  
Do I really have to say it? Don't do drugs people. Snape ISN'T suggesting you should!


	3. Chapter 3

"He's at it again, Sarah," Angelica told the other Healer as they both headed down to the hospital's dining hall together.

"What's he doing?" Sarah asked.

"He's reading all the sodding papers, watching the damned news channels, and generally letting the past run him over like a double-decker again," Angelica replied in frustration. "I went in to let him know that dinner would be ready soon, and I just got a distracted nod tonight. He didn't even tell me thank you. He _always_ tells me thank you."

The other Healer nodded. "It was this way last year, too, and he pulled through it somehow. Just give him the time he needs, I'm sure he'll be fine." Sarah couldn't talk to Snape the way that Angelica could- the blonde had helped Severus learn a unique version of hand-signing based on a Muggle language- but she was fond of the quiet man in her own way. He'd done so much to help the patients at the hospital that it was nearly impossible _not _to think of their newest staff member like part of the family.

"I just.." Angelica trailed off.

Sarah looked over at Angelica while she tried to voice her thoughts.

"I just worry," she finished.

"I know. Think of how much he's already been through in life, Ang. He's a survivor. He'll be fine," Sarah reassured her as they turned into the large hall and took a seat next to each other.

But Snape did not come down to dinner.

* * *

Angelica finally left the hospital later that night and Apparated home to her flat. Exhausted, she hung up her light jacket on it's hook by the door, then sat down in her plush cushioned chair. As she had done every year on this day since the Battle, she reflected sadly over the past few years and cried, her face in her hands. She did not weep for the souls the world had lost that day, for they had fought a noble battle and had won; she wept for Severus, who had fought a noble battle and had lost.

It nearly killed her, every year, to see the man silently hold in the guilt and anguish that clearly tore him apart. The public in general did not mind who they hurt as they ripped open old wounds every anniversary, splashing the headlines of the newspapers with graphic images and bold captions that mirrored the ones from two years ago.

She hated to see him go through this again. It never got any easier for him to endure, and it never got any easier for her to watch him be in pain. She knew her friends wrote off her protectiveness to her having spent so much time with Snape during his lengthy recovery, but Angelica knew better.

The man had been in a drug-induced coma for nearly two weeks before Angelica ever saw those dark eyes flutter open again. They had immediately tracked her in the room, and briefly stared up at her with that same expression of awe, before they slid closed and he went unconscious again. She had sat at his bedside every night for another week, mopping his fevered brow while the nightmares overtook him. She had held his hand in sympathy the day he woke enough to understand that he had lost the use of his voice, and she held his hand in determination on the days he just wanted to give up fighting. She would not allow him to return to the dark place he'd been mired in before the Battle.

She remembered the day the _Daily Prophet _had announced that Potter had managed to convince the Ministry to "posthumously" pardon Snape of his crimes; that he _had_ been working under the command of Dumbledore for the greater good. Angelica had gone running into Severus' room, her face lit with joy for him.

"Congratulations!" she said as she caught his hands in hers with excitement. "You've been pardoned! You can return to your old life, Severus, you're a free man!"

The empty look on his face had made her step back suddenly, and ask what was wrong.

_The _world_ will never pardon me, Angelica_, he had written on a pad of paper he then handed to her. _The Ministry made an empty gesture to a man dead these eight months, to placate Potter. To give the impression of a kinder, magnanimous new government. The world has not changed; if I ever left this hospital, it would be a death sentence. _

He'd written one more sentence on the pad of paper, handed it to her, then turned his back to her.

_Use your talents to save someone worth saving. _

She'd watched him return to his chair by the window, knowing that she should take this as his sign of dismissal. Instead, she leaned against the doorway of his room and studied him as the impact of his words hit her, granting her with a new understanding of the man.

He had no "old life" he wanted to return to. And the stigma he carried from the rest of the Wizarding world… no, he would never truly be a free man. She even contemplated if Snape had actually _wanted_ Potter to fail in his quest to clear his name. Surely it wouldn't have taken a sentence in Azkaban to lessen his guilt, to make him feel that he was absolved of his crimes?

As her sobs finally lessened that night in her flat, Angelica felt a steely resolve take over her. She would _not_ let Severus punish himself for the rest of his life. She would _not_ allow the world to make him a prisoner unwilling to leave the hospital if he so wanted, and she would _not_ allow him to continue in his belief that he was not worth saving.

She strode purposefully to her small desk, grabbed her parchment, bottle of ink, and a quill, and began writing.

* * *

Author's Note: Please Review!


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Severus was reading in his favorite, old leather chair by the window when Angelica softly knocked on his door, and let herself in after a moment of silence. It was a system that worked well for them; since he could not vocally deny her entrance if he was indecent or needed privacy, he would simply pull the curtain shut that divided the room in half instead. She always heard the rustle it made, and would either come back in a few minutes, or wait for him to come find her later.

"You have a letter," she told him, and held the envelope up with a wave. "Just arrived by owl."

Shocked, Severus just stared at her for a moment, then shook his head and returned to his reading. There was some mistake; he had not received any letters since he had arrived at Saint Mungo's, and he never had much personal correspondence even when he had worked at Hogwarts. Besides, very few people knew that he had survived Nagini's attack, and outside of the hospital staff, he could count the people on one hand who actually knew that he was there: the Minister, Potter, his two friends, and Minerva. The hospital staff were all under Silencing Spells that prevented them from speaking about him to anyone outside of the hospital itself.

Oh, the world at large knew the tale of how he'd been a double-agent for Dumbledore, and how he had worked to help bring about the downfall of Voldemort; Potter's testimony afterwards had been vital in clearing his name, but everyone thought he'd died in the Battle. And as Severus had preferred to keep it that way, thank you very much, everyone involved had deemed it best as well. Much to his surprise, he had an official Portrait hanging in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, which he was told kept fairly quiet and glowered at everyone from his shadowy frame.

Angelica snorted, mildly amused at his reaction. "No, it's not a mistake, we checked." Severus looked back up at her, then at the letter she held in her hands. "We worried that it might have been cursed, so we ran a Spell-Check on it first, and it came back clean."

He arched an eyebrow at her words, disbelief clearly written on his features.

"Just because it's not cursed doesn't mean it isn't going to be a nasty letter," she warned him unnecessarily. "If you'd like, I can open it first to be sure. I'll get rid of it, if it's horrible," she promised.

Severus did not even need to consider it before shaking his head no and reaching a hand out for the letter. He did not want her to read it; he did not deserve her pity. Besides, if someone had anything malicious to say to him, he'd certainly earned it over the years while acting as the faithful Death Eater for the Dark Lord. The least he could do was to "hear" them out. He'd also much rather know who _exactly_ now knew that he was alive.

Angelica paused a moment, then with a sigh, stepped forward and handed him the letter. "If you change your mind, just let me know," she told him quietly, hoping that he would. She'd personally seen the man go through too much in the two years she had known him, and had more than a good idea of what hell he'd been through before that. Everyone deserved some happiness in life; she wished he would just let the past go.

He gazed down at the handwriting, then back up at her. With a small smile, he put his fingers to his mouth, then brought the hand down towards her. _Thank you_.

"You're welcome," she told him with a smile as she signed it as well. Her smile faded and she lightly placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look back up at her quickly. "I mean it, Severus," she told him, then turned and left his room, closing the door behind her.

One eyebrow raised, he stared at the door for several moments after she had left. What had she meant? That he was welcome, or that she'd get rid of the letter if he wished? Or something else entirely? He looked down at his shoulder, where she'd briefly touched him. Though he had eventually become accustomed to the hospital staff and doctors touching him over the years- he'd had too many exams and check-ups in that time to let it still bother him- no one had ever touched him when not medically necessary. Was it possible she felt something for him? His brow creased in thought. No, he decided; Angelica cared for him as a Healer would care for their patient after as lengthy a recovery as he had had. Surely, it was nothing more than that, he thought despondently.

Damning his social ineptness, he stole a glance at the clock on the wall. Noon. The letter would have to wait until this evening. He set it down on the small table near his chair, then stood to go make his rounds that would take up most of the evening.

* * *

"Angie!" a woman's excited voice called out loudly as the junior Healer walked over and sat down at an empty seat across from her at the small table. Angelica didn't dare sit in the seat next to her, which she knew was strictly reserved.

"Hello, Alice, how are you doing today?" She waved to the woman's husband sitting next to her quietly. "Hi, Frank. Are you doing well?" Her question was answered with a smile as the man blushed and nodded before he quickly looked away and focused again on the puzzle he was assembling on the table. Alice rattled on to her about the day's events before she looked over Angelica's shoulder with sudden interest.

"Snape!" she waved her arm frantically above her head, trying to catch his attention as she did every time he stopped by.

With an easy stride, the man walked to where the trio was already seated, and with a nod to the couple and a small smile toward Angelica, he took the empty seat next to Alice, as he always did, and set a large leather bag on the floor near his foot. After the girls had caught up on their small talk for the day, Severus watched silently as Angelica asked the man and the woman the same set of questions she did every day, and he scribbled notes on his clipboard as they answered. It had, apparently, never bothered Alice that Snape never talked to or replied to her during his visits.

Eventually, Severus pulled two vials of a cheerful blue-colored potion from his leather bag, handed them silently to Angelica, and stood up to leave.

As always happened, Alice sprung from her chair and threw her arms around Snape's middle before he'd gone more than a handful of steps.

"Bye, Snape! Bye, bye, bye," she said with a grin.

"Bye.." Frank offered quietly from his chair in the corner, then resumed work on his puzzle.

Angelica sat in her chair, hiding an amused grin. She could tell that Severus never understood why the couple liked him the way they did, but he always endured Alice's attentions with grace. She watched as he hugged her back with his one free arm, silently gave her a small kiss on the top of her head, and steered her back to her chair as she started singing under her breath.

With a wave to all three, he left the room carrying his leather bag, on to the next of his many patients he needed to see, leaving Angelica to see that the pair were administered their potions.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Snape sat in his chair by the window, looking over the survey results from the Longbottoms. Both Frank and Alice were obviously improving in regards to past memory and current recollection abilities, speech abilities, and eye-hand coordination. The other hospital staff were thrilled with the improvements the couple had shown in the last year, and Severus could state without conceit that it was due to his experimental potions that they were being administered.

With a grin that was part smirk, he recalled the little fragment of a song Alice had been singing before he had left. _Snape, Snape, Severus Snape.. _It was an annoyingly catchy tune. He wondered if someone had taught it to her, or if she'd simply made it up. If she'd actually invented the snippet herself, she was progressing leaps and bounds above what had initially been anticipated by the hospital staff many years ago.

Their improvement was one of the reasons that Severus stayed on at St. Mungo's. While part of his mind taunted that he was simply a coward, hiding from the wizarding world who had despised him, the more rational side of his psyche knew that he simply wanted to help right the many wrongs he had committed during the last twenty-odd years of his life. By staying on as an unofficial "staff" member, he could perform all of the potion making and brewing that the hospital needed, more quickly and efficiently than any of their old Head Brewers. It was, admittedly, something he loved to do- he had a full lab at his disposal on the premises, and he didn't have to teach (which he had never enjoyed anyway), or worry about the dunderheads blowing up his classroom anymore. They'd set him up in his own private, permanent room here at the hospital, and the position also afforded him a generous salary, of which he spent a portion of on owl-ordered books without an ounce of guilt.

He was still analyzing the day's results from all of his patients, and making notes in his journal, when Angelica knocked on the door and let herself in after his customary moment of silence.

"I just wanted to let you know that dinner would be ready in about half an hour," she told him.

_Thank you_, he signed to her with a smile, which she returned. She could always tell that helping Frank and Alice and the other patients did something to boost his spirits, and she found herself wondering once again if he did all of this to help atone for the horrors of his past.

"I also wanted to let you know that Frank and Alice's son stopped by this afternoon, and was amazed at their progress. When his parents both recognized him, and called him by name, he picked up Sarah and swung her around he was so happy." It had been a sight to see, Angelica thought; she'd never seen the young man so happy here before. She'd wished that Severus could have seen it.

The man smiled and signed _I'm very glad _to her.

"Well, I'll leave you to your notes. Don't forget about dinner tonight; some of us missed your presence last night," she told him, then left.

Again, he found himself staring at the door, wondering.

* * *

Author's Note:  
Poor Snape.. he's just not sure what to think when someone is nice to him! Please R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

A long chapter to tide you over for a bit..

* * *

"Ang, will you calm down already? I'm sure he'll come, just sit down," Sarah told the blonde junior Healer exasperatedly while she paced near her chair in the dining hall.

"I swear, if he stays holed up in that room of his again, I'm going to drag him down here _by his ear _and _make_ him eat," Angelica muttered under her breath. Sarah laughed, grabbed her friend by the arm and made her sit down.

"You know," Sarah raised an eyebrow and leaned forward conspiratorially, "you could always just _tell_ him how you feel about him." She gave the blonde a knowing look while she sputtered.

"You- I mean- what?" Angelica finally admitted defeat. "He's a patient, Sarah! I _can't_ do that!" she whispered harshly.

"One," Sarah ticked off on her fingers, "he's _not_ a patient anymore, so _yes_, you can. Technically, he's not even a staff member really, though he is on payroll," she admitted. "Two, you've been telling me for ages how you wish that he would leave the past behind, and move on with his life, be happy-"

"That is _not_ what I meant, Sarah-"

"And three," Sarah continued as she ticked off another finger, "I think he feels the same way about you," she finished smugly.

Angelica gaped for a minute at her friend, then closed her mouth quickly in embarrassment. "He does not, Sarah, really," she said dismissively. "Besides, he's more than ten years my senior, why on earth would he be interested in me?"

"Ang," Sarah started in a tone that implied that everything she was about to say should have been apparent. "He's a _wizard_."

"Obviously.."

".. and you're Muggle-born, but you're still a _witch_. Ten years isn't a big deal to anyone." She watched her friend's face as she thought about that. "Besides, you're the only one who really _gets_ him. We're all friendly with Severus, clearly, and we like him, but he can always be himself around you. I've only ever seen that man _genuinely_ smile when you were in the room."

"Oh, really-" Angelica stopped abruptly. "Here he comes, hush," she told her friend, and they turned their attention to their dinner.

"Good evening, Severus," they both greeted him in unison as he sat down next to Angelica a moment later. He stared at them both for a moment, then signed _good evening _to them. He helped himself to the dishes on the table in front of him, then let his thoughts wander as he absently poked at his plate of food. It was barely a minute later that he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, and immediately noticed Angelica watching him intently.

He put his fork down on his plate, and drug his index finger across the palm of his other hand while raising an eyebrow at her. _What? _he mouthed at her for emphasis. Touch, he had gotten used to, but even after all these years, the feeling of someone staring at him still set him on edge.

Angelica shook her head at him and returned her attention to her own plate of food. Beyond her, Snape noticed that Sarah was staring at him as well. She only knew a handful of the more basic signs that he and Angelica used, but Scowl was a universal language; one sent in her direction was all he needed to dissuade her from continuing her staring.

_They've been talking again_, Severus thought with some annoyance, and he wondered what about now. Undoubtedly something to do with his absence from dinner the evening before. They knew why he hadn't appeared, couldn't they just let it go?

Belatedly, he remembered the letter he had received earlier that morning, still waiting for him on the table by his chair. Mentally cursing as he felt his appetite disappear completely, he excused himself by sign to the two women and left the dining hall, attracting some stares as he went. He ignored them.

Once safely back in his room, he sat down heavily in his leather chair and stared at the handwriting on the envelope. There was no return address, and it was only labeled _S.S., 4th Floor, St. Mungo's Hospital, London_.

Severus took a deep breath, opened the envelope, and took out a parchment letter that was folded over on itself many times.

He folded the top of the letter up and a single line of somewhat untidy handwriting met his eyes.

_I thought you should have this_, was all that was written. Brows gathered together in thought, Severus continued to unfold the letter until a single wizarding photo fell out into his lap. He picked it up, turned it over in his hands, and gasped.

It was a photo of Lily.

She was sitting outside beneath an old willow tree near a stream, looking off into the distance while the sun lit her red hair into a burnished copper, and the wind blew it in a light breeze. It was obviously a candid photo; it was apparent that she did not realize anyone was there watching her, and the expression on her face made Severus think that, perhaps, she was thinking of her time spent there as a child with her old friend.

He gazed at the photo for what felt like forever, astonished at the gift that someone had chosen to give him. The only other photo he had owned of her (which had been ripped in half, stolen from the Black family house after Sirius had died), had been destroyed in his house on Spinner's End after someone had decided to set fire to the place after the Battle. He had been devastated when Angelica had told him, months later when he had finally asked, that everything in the house had been a complete loss. That photo and his books would have been the only things he would have tried to save, had he been there. The books he could have eventually all replaced, but the photo..

It was as if, in some small way, the world had given Lily back to him again, after the Fates had repeatedly taken her from him. He would always hold her dear to his heart, even after all these years, but part of what he felt now was simply relief and amazement that someone -anyone- in the world cared enough to give him this small piece of his soul back, a small piece of what had once made him happy in life. He jumped as he felt a splash on his hand, and realized he had tears streaming down his cheeks. With a half-strangled sob, he threw up a silencing charm on his door, and gave in to the cathartic act of releasing his emotions, unleashing what he had kept bottled up for years. He had not cried since the night he had found Lily murdered, he realized.

A soft knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts, and with a stab of terror, he realized that Angelica was going to enter his room. With his silencing charm up, she would not hear the noise of the curtain being pulled, and would mistake his silence for permission to come in. In a flash, he canceled the silencing charm and quickly pulled the curtain across the room in an attempt to shield himself from her gaze as the door swung open.

"Severus, I just-"

He was not fast enough, and he saw the confused look on her face before the geometric print fabric hid him from view. With the silencing charm now gone, and his attempt to conceal his pain from her a useless gesture, he could not help the anguished breath that escaped his lips.

He heard her quietly close the door, put up another silencing charm and a Notice-Me-Not, and take the few steps to where the curtain divided the room between them.

"Severus?" Angelica asked quietly, and he could hear the tremor in her voice. She placed a hand on the edge of the fabric, but did not pull it open. He stared at her finely manicured nails for a few moments as the silence stretched on between them.

"Severus, I can leave, if you would like me to," she told him, hand still on the closed curtain.

_Yes_, he thought, he wanted her to leave. He did not want her to see him in this state, blubbering like an infant. But how to tell her? He could not sign to her through the bloody curtain, after all.. He saw the pad of paper and pen laying on his small table and was about to move to pick them up when she spoke again.

"Severus.. I'd like to help, if I can."

He froze where he was in his chair.

"I think you deserve to have someone you can confide in.. someone who cares," she told him.

He held his breath for a moment, stunned. Was she saying that she cared for him? Normally, he would have dismissed the notion without thought, but the past few days.. had she been leaving subtle hints? A gentle hand on his shoulder, a carefully-worded request to join her at dinner..

He stared again at the curtain between them. She still had not moved, and by doing so had made it clear that she was not going to push her way into his personal space; he would have to come to her, meet her halfway. If he wanted to.

Angelica stood, her the fabric of the curtain still clutched in her hand, as her heart pounded in her chest. _What on earth are you doing_? Who was she to think that this man, who had spent the better part of half his life acting as a spy, trusting no one, would suddenly come to her and willingly vent his bleeding heart? Moreover, he was a Slytherin- a connoisseur of subtlety and nuances- and by Slytherin standards she'd just shouted to the world that she loved him.

As the silence began to stretch out uncomfortably in the room, she felt her cheeks start to burn with embarrassment. She had told Sarah that he couldn't have been interested in her; she should have never said anything. This was going to make things horribly awkward between them now.

_Angelica, you stupid, stupid girl.._

Feeling that it was best to make a quick and quiet retreat, Angelica started to turn to leave, but stopped when she felt a hand curl over hers on the edge of the curtain. She paused, unsure of what to do. After a moment, she managed to find her voice.

"Would you like me to stay, Severus?" she asked, careful to keep her tone perfectly neutral.

Severus's mind raced. What if he'd misunderstood her? Merlin, he'd make a mess of things, as usual, and bollocks up the one good thing he had going in his life right now.

_But.._

But what if he hadn't misunderstood? What if she truly was trying to reach out to him, to offer him some genuine friendship and comfort? She _had_ been the only one to touch him willingly, of her own accord.. If she _was_ reaching out, to refuse her now _would_ ruin whatever there was between them..

Saying a silent prayer to whomever might be listening, Severus gently pulled the curtain back, and let go of her hand as he met her eyes.

Angelica could tell that he'd been crying, for his face still showed the signs of his grief; his skin was flushed, his eyes were red, and he still had visible tracks of dried salt running down his cheeks. He was visibly trying to compose himself, but she knew it was all a mask. She'd seen his face before the curtain pulled shut, she'd heard the voiceless sobs racking his body.

"Oh, Severus," she said quietly, willing her voice not to crack with emotion. Without thinking, she reached out for his hand and led him to sit down in his beat-up leather chair. As she hunched down in front of him, one hand placed comfortingly on his knee, her eyes flicked to the letter on his table then back to his face.

"What did those_ people _say to you?" she asked, her voice barely containing the anger she felt that after so long, someone had found his whereabouts and had decided to torment him further.

She was surprised to see shock on the man's face, and he quickly shook his head and signed to her the gestures for "happy," then "cry." The confusion must have shown on her face for he quickly leaned over, picked up the pen and paper off his table, and started writing quickly. After a few moments, he held the pad of paper out for her to read.

_I had not meant for you to see me like this_, the note started in his very familiar scrawl. Angelica's eyebrows went up in surprise; in Severus-speak this was equivalent to admitting that he'd been crying, _and_ apologizing for having "subjected" her to it. She kept reading.

_The letter.. was not disparaging, it was quite the opposite. Someone had sent me a photo they thought that I should have. _

Angelica's eyes widened slightly. It hadn't been a nasty letter? She briefly wondered what the photo was of, though she could probably guess.

_I was.. a little overwhelmed by the thought that someone cared enough to offer me even this little bit of happiness, _his note said. She looked back up at his face.

_Me_, he mouthed to her, and slid the palm of his open hand in front of his face, from forehead to chin. She knew it was his own sign for his Death Eater mask; it was not a sign he used often. That one small sign conveyed a wealth of his thoughts to her- who would ever _care_ about a man convicted of being a Death Eater, responsible for the torture and deaths of countless many, for the 'greater good?' Who on earth would send him even this small tiding of joy?

_Oh, Severus_, she thought as she reached out and grasped his hand in hers. His eyebrows arched in surprise, but he gratefully accepted her touch as he squeezed her hand back. She privately believed that the man would never learn to glimpse beyond that silver mask and see his true self; the caring individual who labored to create new potions to help every one of those patients that he could, the man who took Alice's exuberant attentions and affection with grace, and even freely returned them.. the man who quietly tore his soul apart every day with guilt and regret over what he had been forced to do under Voldemort's command.

As she stared at him now, she noticed once again how beautiful and incredibly expressive his dark eyes could be, at least when he was not wearing that impassive mask he used to hide his emotions. The man had filled out slightly in his two years at the hospital; he was still too thin in her opinion, but he was no longer the painfully gaunt man he had been when he was first admitted. Genetics had cursed him with a nose that was too large for his face, which could only be described as "modest" in the nicest usage of the word. In all, the man was not physically handsome, but she knew that did not matter to her.

It was the beauty of his character, his convictions, that had ultimately attracted her to him. As he recovered, she had watched him transform from an isolated, bitter and taciturn man into a genuinely warm human being who loved, and grieved, and even laughed, at least, in his unusual, silent way. It had been like watching a gnarly, twisted old tree straighten and blossom in slow motion before her eyes. The transformation had been breathtaking. She just wished Snape could see the change in himself as well.

She used her free hand to wipe a tear that was threatening to escape the corner of her eye.

"What did they send you?" she asked him quietly, as she pulled herself together. She knew that the photo was sitting beneath the letter on his table, but she kept her eyes glued to his. She knew how much this man valued his privacy, even now, and she would not push the matter if he was unwilling to show this to her. He was a Slytherin, so he knew what she was truly asking; _do you want to share this with me? _

After just a moment's hesitation, Snape picked up the corner of the photo and placed it in her hand with a soft sigh. True, society already knew his story, no thanks to Potter blurting it to the world, but he'd never had to deal with that knowledge so intimately before. He could not bear to see the pity he knew would be reflected in her eyes. He did not deserve it. He was a monster, and always would be.

Angelica looked down at the redheaded woman in the photo and immediately knew that this was the fabled Lily from his youth; the woman whose death had driven him to for years to continue on through the hell his life had become.

She looked back up at him and saw him staring at a spot in the corner of the room, seemingly ignoring her, though she could tell he was intently aware of her every move.

"This is Lily?" she asked, and he nodded, still staring at the corner.

With a nod, she looked back down at the photo. Lily was pretty, yes, but was not this great beauty that Angelica had always been led to believe the woman had been. But clearly visible, even in the photo, was the intelligence that sparkled behind her eyes; something she imagined would clearly be attractive to a man like Severus.

She handed Severus the photo back, and found him staring at her, obviously waiting for some sort of reaction from her. Her mouth went dry as she realized that the answer to her next question could ultimately send their friendship down one of two forks in the road.

"Does she still mean so much to you?" she asked, glad to hear her voice was perfectly neutral, and amazed that he could not hear her heart pounding in her chest as she awaited his answer.

Severus looked down at the photo in his hands, obviously thinking about her query. He placed the photo on his table again, and picked up the pad of paper and pen.

_Yes.. and no_, his writing said. _I think.. at some point over the last few years, I have come to terms with her memory. I have saved her son more times than I can count, and through my perseverance, helped enable him to defeat the Dark Lord.. _

Angelica nodded as she read.

_There is a place in my heart where she will always live on.. But I know she would not want me to continue pining away for her.. She would want me to move on. To be happy. She would be thrilled, I think, that someone cared enough to send me this little photo.. _

"I think she would be, too, Severus," Angelica told him with a smile; she could feel the tears glittering again at the edges of her eyes. The man was finally beginning to let go of the past.

Severus looked down at Angelica as she gazed up at him, and he realized with a start that the emotion shining so clearly in her eyes was not the pity he'd been expecting.

_Was it…? Surely, not.._

Without thinking, he placed his hand to her cheek and wiped her tears away with his thumb.

_Don't cry_, he signed to her. _I can't stand to see you hurting._ With a small laugh, Angelica signed back to him the gestures for "happy" and "cry". She didn't trust her voice at the moment, so she reached for his pad of paper and pen.

_I'm happy, Severus! I'm glad to see you taking steps towards a better future for yourself, towards seeing the man I know that you are_, she wrote. She tried not to blush as he read the paper.

Very interesting, he thought. He reached for the pen she held, his hand lingering slightly longer than necessary on her skin, before he wrote his reply.

_And what kind of man am I? How do you see me? _He wrote.

Angelica mentally threw her hands up in the air. How on earth could she get him to see himself the way _she_ did? Even the way Alice, and his patients, and the other hospital staff saw him? As a man to be admired and respected by the merits of his hard work and dedication, not as a man to be feared and hated because of his past? An idea struck her as she looked from the paper back up to his dark eyes.

_Legillimency_, she wrote calmly, still not trusting her voice.

The reaction on his face was instantaneous. His eyebrows rose up and his eyes widened in an expression of horror, then his face closed in on itself as he shook his head once.

_No, _he signed to her. _Absolutely not._

Merlin! The girl must be truly daft if she thought that he would be willing to subject her- the one remaining person on this earth he truly felt any tender feelings toward- to something that horrific.

"Why?" she finally asked aloud.

He plucked the pen and paper from her hands and started scribbling furiously for several minutes, before he thrust the paper back at her to read, his black eyebrows furrowed low over his dark eyes.

_Why__? Because I was forced to use that spell on countless victims; to enter their mind against their will, break down their feeble barriers, and extract what the Dark Lord found useful, before he would slaughter them without mercy. I have been forced to violate too many minds, and now you want me to subject __you__ to that? It is rape of the mind, Angelica! _

His answer made her mouth go dry again; she'd never considered that he might have had to do something like that before in his past. She'd always heard, and had seen for herself, that his skills lay as an Occlumens instead; hiding things, rather than seeking them out. Still, what better way did she have to show him his true self?

She took the pad of paper from him and gently plucked the pen from his still-clenched fingers. She could feel the shock and anger rolling off of him as she took the time to compose her reply, then handed the pad of paper back to him.

_I am willingly opening my mind to you; it is not rape, _she had written_. _He quickly glanced up at her with a glare for her temerity, then looked back down at the paper.

_I trust you, Severus_.

Snape felt his anger disappear in a flash as he read the words in her flowing handwriting. She _trusted_ him. Explicitly, if she truly had any idea of how bloody dangerous this was for her. He'd accidentally driven more than one of the Dark Lord's victims to madness by the time he had broken through their mental barriers. He'd even intentionally driven a few mad _before_ he could find the information he was supposed to be searching for; that way he'd been honestly able to report to the Dark Lord that he had found nothing..

With a sigh, he turned back to Angelica, who now stood before him, watching his face.

_It's not safe_, he signed to her.

_I trust you, _she signed back with a determined expression on her face.

_No, _he signed as he looked away from her blue eyes. _I won't risk hurting- _

"Severus, kiss me," Angelica blurted out suddenly, and Snape whipped his head up to look at her in shock. He barely registered seeing her little smirk of satisfaction before she whispered "_Legillimens_."

* * *

Author's Note:

Smirk. I just love picturing the expression on his face right now. Please R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

Severus immediately felt himself falling into the black pupils of her eyes, sinking further and further away from his body sitting in the old leather chair in his hospital room.

He panicked.

"Severus, relax," he heard a soothing voice from somewhere behind him in the blackness, and felt non-existent hands running down his shoulders and arms. "I'm right here. I only wanted to meet you halfway; I wasn't going to barge my way in."

As he realized that he was not writhing in pain as he would have done if the Dark Lord had been breaking into his mind, he took a few deep mental breaths and forced himself to relax. He tentatively reached out towards Angelica with his mind.

"I'm sorry I had to spring that on you."

He spun, and found Angelica walking towards him out of the darkness, practically glowing in her white uniform.

"I've never done this before," she told him apologetically. "I knew if I didn't catch you off guard, I'd never be able to get past your shields."

He nodded, accepting her apology. "You managed to get us past the dangerous part," he told her.

"Severus!" she exclaimed happily as she gaped at him. "You can _talk_!"

He stared at her, momentarily taken aback. "Of course I can. _Here, _at least. That damn snake didn't ruin my brain, just my throat." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'd never thought about the possibility before," she told him, still staring. "My God, you have a _beautiful_ voice, Severus." He turned a lovely shade of red before quickly composing himself, and Angelica suppressed a mental smirk of delight that she'd managed to make him blush. "I'm sorry; I'd only heard you speak the one time, and there wasn't much left of your voice box to function.."

He nodded, before looking around him to the expanse of black emptiness.

"I assume you brought me here for a reason?" he asked her, mentally kicking himself as he heard impatience color his voice to cover his discomfort. Old habits sometimes died hard; perhaps it was best he could no longer speak, he thought with a grimace.

"Oh! Yes! It's just this way," Angelica answered, as she took his hand in hers and led him away into the darkness.

Severus could see nothing- aside from Angelica herself, glowing in the darkness- but she apparently knew right where she was going.

"Here," she said as she dropped his hand and ducked behind him. She placed her hands on his arms just above his elbow and tugged him slightly to the right, and a large, ornately-carved gilt mirror, taller than himself, appeared out of nowhere. He tensed and moved to pull away from it before he realized that it was not the Mirror of Erised he was looking at, though this one did appear very similar to it.

"Videre veritatem," he read the letters carved across the top of the mirror. _See the truth_.

"I.. I figured this was the best way to show you how I see you. How we all see you," Angelica told him quietly. She cringed as she heard the nervousness in her voice. _This was it- if the man still truly had no clue how I feel for him, this would blow any doubts out of the water.. _

Severus turned over his shoulder to see Angelica blushing softly, biting her lip.

_The woman was nervous? Whatever for? _he thought.

"Come here, pet, and tell me what it is I'm seeing," he told her softly as he held out his hand. Angelica slowly took his hand and came to stand next to him as the mirror's reflection changed. Instead of the pair of them, it now showed-

_Angelica, sitting next to his unconscious form, holding his hand as she gently wiped his fevered forehead with a wet flannel. His face was twisted in pain, yet he clung to her hand even then. Angelica's face reflected the empathy she felt for this man, Death Eater or not, as he suffered and fought.. _

_Angelica, again, as she sat with Snape in his room, teaching him the new sign language. Frustration was apparent on his stern features, yet beneath that, burgeoning hope was clearly visible. _

_Alice, rushing towards him to embrace him before he could leave; then himself, returning a kiss on the top of her head. It showed the small smile on his face as he gently returned Alice to her chair.. _

_It showed the polite, respectful nods of the head from other staff members as he made his way through the hallways, on his rounds each evening. They all knew he had done so much to help their patients. He had single-handedly accomplished more in the past year than most did during their career._

_It then showed the concerned looks he received from many of the staff as he left the cafeteria the other night without eating. It was obvious that Angelica was not the only one who cared __about him in some way.. _

_Again, the mirror showed Angelica, staring up at him as she kneeled before him only minutes ago_. _He could easily see the emotion in her eyes; she was clearly upset that __he__was upset, but there was something else.. _

Severus leaned closer to the mirror. He could see himself reflected in her eyes, but he was curiously blurred, almost as if someone had put a Glamour over him. His hair was sleeker and better styled then it ever was in the real world, and his eyes seemed to reflect a soft warmth that he knew had probably never been there before. His previously sallow skin now showed a healthy, slightly rosy glow, and his nose.. Merlin, his nose was as large as it ever was- apparently even Glamours couldn't hide that monstrosity- but it seemed to better fit his face then it ever had before. It almost gave him a dignified profile..

He leaned in closer to the mirror, studying the image, his brows furrowed in thought. For her to see him as he was, yet so clearly altered, it was almost as if she were in lov-

Shocked, he jumped and pulled away from the mirror. He felt the delicate mental connection Angelica had created between them crack like a fragile spun-glass ornament before shattering completely.

Like flicking on a light switch in a dark room, he suddenly found himself back in his leather chair; he looked up just in time to see Angelica's knees buckle as she returned to her body. He quickly reached out and caught her by the arms before she fell, then slowly lowered her to the floor to her original kneeling position before him. As his gaze swept down to her, she opened her eyes to return his shocked stare.

_Oh God, that wasn't exactly the reaction I was hoping for_, Angelica thought as she saw his expression. He looked completely caught off guard, which made her wonder if he did not return her feelings. _I still managed to mess things up! _she thought.

He recovered swiftly though, as he started signing to her.

_Angelica_, he signed quickly in his astonishment, _I must ask if you harbor any feelings towards me?_

The junior Healer blushed slightly, but managed to reply "yes, I do," with a brave voice as she looked up at him. Of course she did, it was obvious, she thought; to deny such feelings would only make him feel that she was _ashamed _of caring for him. She would never do that to him.

Severus sat motionless in his chair for a few moments, absolutely stunned. She _did_ care for him.. But the way she saw him in the mirror.. was it more than just caring? He had to know. He could not turn back now.

_Angelica.. _he stared into her eyes for any betraying flicker of emotion as he finished signing _do you love me?_

Angelica met his gaze steadily as she contemplated his question. Of course she loved him, her heart had been powerless against him from the first time his gorgeous brown eyes fluttered open to meet hers. But he had never shown any sign that her feelings were either appreciated or returned.. Should she simply tell him no, she did not love him, and hopefully salvage what she could of their friendship? She had cared for him and worked with him for two years now, and it would crush her if she made him feel uncomfortable around her after this.

No, she told herself firmly. If he did not return her feelings she would simply professionally apologize for her actions and reaffirm that she valued him as a friend very highly. But to deny that such feelings even existed would be doing him a disservice. She could tell the man had probably never had much self-confidence; even if he did not return her love, perhaps just knowing that someone loved him and found him attractive would help a little on his road to recovery.

_Angelica_, he signed again to her. _Do you love me?_

Mind made up, Angelica lifted her chin.

"Yes, Severus," she replied quietly, "I love you."

She watched his face for any sort of reaction, but he must have been Occluding quite heavily, for his features revealed nothing to her. After a moment or two, she saw a shadow cross his eyes, and felt her heart drop within her chest; he apparently did not return her feelings. With a sigh, she lowered her gaze from his face and stared at the floor tiles beneath her.

It took Severus many more moments than he would care to admit to wrap his head around Angelica's new revelation. _She loves me! _This beautiful, caring, intelligent creature loved _him_! How on earth was that even possible? Women such as her- no, women in _general_- had never taken notice of him, much less appreciated him as he was. Women did not want an unattractive, murdering Death Eater as a love interest..

His expression fell as he realized that she could not _truly_ love him, not if she knew and fully understood the atrocities he had committed during the Dark Lord's reign. With a small shake, he pulled himself to the present and, with an aching heart, gazed down at the woman before him.

_Angelica_, he signed to her once again, and her blue eyes swung up to meet his own. She was shocked to see a single tear slide down from Severus's eye. _Angelica, you could love a Death Eater?_ he signed to her, jumping as she caught his hand before he could complete the sign for his Death Eater mask.

Angelica shook her head as her blue eyes suddenly seemed to burn with an inner fire. The tear slowly rolling down his cheek, along with his question to her, had made her realize that he did return her feelings, but obviously felt that he was not worthy or deserving of her love. _It would probably take me my whole life to get him to see past that mask_, she thought, then suddenly realized that she would be willing to commit her life to the task.

She brought the hand she had "interrupted" down from his face and cradled it in both of her hands. "I could love _you_," she told him carefully, her eyes seeming to bore straight to his soul as she met his gaze. "If you'll only let me." She kissed the back of his knuckles gently as she felt a tear fall down her own cheek.

Severus held her gaze for what felt like an eternity, before he slowly brought his free hand up to gently cup the side of her cheek. He wiped the tear from her face with his thumb, then slowly brought his face down to hers. He watched her blue eyes continuously for any indication that his advances were unwelcome, and upon seeing none, gently kissed her upon the lips.

Their first kiss was tentative, almost painfully hesitant as they both tried to wrap their mind around the idea that the other person _truly _loved them. As they both became more emboldened, their kiss deepened, became more passionate after the fear that the other would pull away disappeared. Their touch- his hands in her hair and on her waist, her hands clutching the front of his robes as she pulled him closer- became slightly frantic as they both felt the building need to express their emotions in a more tangible way.

After several minutes, they both reluctantly pulled away, as the need for air won out over passion.

"Severus," Angelica breathed, "I was originally just stopping in to say goodbye before I returned home for the evening.."

He nodded. He had memorized her schedule long, long ago.

"And, well.." she trailed off as she avoided his gaze, and Severus watched her turn a lovely shade of pink. He gently placed a finger under her chin and met her eyes with his own as he gestured for her to continue.

"And.. I was wondering.." she met his eyes with a bit of residual blush, but continued on bravely: "I was wondering if you might like to join me. If you'd like." _Oh my god, I just asked him to come home with me! _

Severus immediately felt his throat go dry as he realized two thoughts simultaneously. _She wants you to come home with her(!), _as well as _She wants you to leave the hospital?_ Merlin, he didn't know which thought scared him more- with the stresses and responsibilities of his past double-agent life, he had not been with a woman in, well, a very long time- and just the idea of leaving the hospital, his only sanctuary, the sole thing shielding him from the hate and scorn of the wizarding world, after two years.. scared him a great deal more.

Angelica saw his hesitation. "Oh, god, I'm sorry, that was presumptuous of me- you don't have to come, Severus," she explained quickly, standing and backing away a little. "I just-"

He quickly stood and pulled her to him again, kissing her passionately before pulling away breathlessly once again. Under no circumstances did he want her to feel that she had to apologize for her offer, or worse, have her think that he did not want to go with her- Merlin, he _wanted_ to go with her- he just needed her help, and maybe a little bit of her patience as well.

_Angelica_, he signed to her, _I'm not sure how.. pleasing.. you will find me; I've not been with many women.. _

"God, I don't care about that, Severus," she told him. "I'm not too worried anyways," she said smugly, "I've seen how you can kiss."

He granted her a half smirk-smile, which she knew was his version of a pleased smile.

_But, I am afraid I need your help, _he continued signing to her, _in order to leave the hospital._

"Anything, love. How can I help? What do you need?" she asked him, her blue eyes concerned.

_Well_, he signed, _I can't exactly leave out the front door.._

* * *

Author's Note:I hate to admit this, but I'm not sure if I made up the idea of seeing himself in the mirror, or if I'd that nugget of an "idea" stuck in my head from something similar in another story I've read at one point or another.. (I have been reading too many HP fics lately!) So just in case I _am_ crazy- if anyone recognizes something similar from their readings please let me know and I'll credit the author/story. It's already bugging me beyond belief that I can't remember for sure..  
One last chapter to go! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Apparently FFNet loves to mess up my updates/posts, because I've just noticed that the last chapter to this story never posted correctly, that is to say, never posted **at all**! Here is the final chapter to this story, sorry it's taken me so long to notice, my mind's been occupied elsewhere for the past nine months. ;) I hope you enjoy, and I'd love to hear your final thoughts on the story with a review! Thank you again for checking out my little story. Andrea

CAUTION: minor lemons to follow, though nothing terribly graphic.

* * *

The pair Apparated directly into the small living room of her flat, and Severus clutched at her hand a little unsteadily as he regained his balance.

"Been a while since you've Side-Alonged, hasn't it?" she asked him with a small smile. He nodded. "Well, now that you've been here, I imagine you can Apparate and Disapparate as you please." His pleased, crooked smirk told her that he was Slytherin enough to interpret that sentence as an invitation to visit her as often as he liked, and stay as long as he wished to.

"At any rate, I live in a Muggle neighborhood- lower rent- and the neighbors really don't pay any attention to whatever noises they hear, so Apparating isn't a problem."

He nodded as he listened to her slightly nervous rambling.

"Oh God," she suddenly exclaimed as she grabbed his elbow, "what will the hospital think when they find you're missing? They'll have no idea where you left!"

He smirked wickedly as he signed to her. _I'm a big boy. They can live without me, at least until my rounds tomorrow afternoon. _

She smiled in return and let him pull her towards him, as he enveloped her in his black robes..

* * *

Angelica wasn't what she would call "very experienced," sexually, but she wasn't inexperienced either. She'd been with a few men in her life so far, all of whom had coincidentally turned out to be rather.. vociferous.. in bed. She'd always thought it a bit of a turn off- as if they were (over)acting for her benefit, or imagining that they were such talented lovers they were in a x-rated video shoot. And was there a rule somewhere that said your partner had to change positions every five minutes? Couldn't you find a position that was pleasurable for both parties, and just _enjoy_ _it_?

She found that being with Severus was totally different, on all accounts.

He was slow and gentle and tender with her, as they finally shed all their clothes and ended up in her bedroom. As he needed his hands for.. other activities.. he did not sign to her his thoughts or emotions, but she could read them as clearly in his expression as if he were speaking directly to her. His soulful chocolate eyes conveyed to her his eternal thanks for seeing him through his hellish recovery, his astonishment that she loved him, and his fierce desire to never let her out of his arms again. His hands explored every part of her body, his mouth captured her lips, her neck, anything that he could reach, and he worshipped her as one might a deity, until she cried out his name beneath him in release.

As he finally neared closer to his own orgasm, Angelica watched his dark eyes flutter shut above her, and his face bunched up in a pained-looking version of ecstasy. Though he had no voice to give his ragged breathing any sound, she found there was something incredibly erotic about hearing his near-silently panting breath coming faster and faster in her ear, the puffs of warm air on her skin an indication of how close he was getting to release. In fact, she felt her body tensing up beneath him for a second orgasm when he suddenly opened his eyes and returned her gaze.

_Do you trust me_? he mouthed to her silently.

She nodded at once. "Of course, Severus."

_Legillimens_, he mouthed, and at first, Angelica felt as if nothing had happened.

_Can you hear me_? She suddenly heard Severus's deep, silken voice in her mind, while she stared up at him in amazement. Even wandlessly, he had enough control over the magic so that neither seemed to leave their body as they had previously when she had established the connection.

"Yes." she told him outloud. _Yes_! she thought.

_Good_, his voice sounded strained, in her mind. _I just wanted to tell you- Oh Merlin, I'm so close- _

_It's okay, love. Come, _she told him._ Whatever it is, it can wait for now.. _

_No! _he sounded almost panicked_. I wanted you to hear- to know- that I love you!_

_I love you, Severus_, she thought in return, just as she felt his body tighten up above her, as her own body seemed to coil inward before exploding together with his as their shared orgasm overtook them.

As they lay together in bed afterwards, Angelica felt her heart swell with joy and happiness and love for her dark-haired man, who had literally floated into her life two years prior, unconscious and dying, with The Most Feared Wizard Ever's tattoo branded on his arm.

* * *

Dear Mister Potter,

I must thank you from the bottom of my heart for agreeing to send a photo to Severus last month. He was.. deeply moved that anyone cared enough to gift a Death Eater with the happiness that picture brought him. He will always have a spot in his heart for Lily, as I am sure you know, but I am glad to say that he is making steps to move forward with his life. I am also happy to report that he is a completely different person than he was even two years ago; you probably wouldn't even recognize him now, he has changed so, and all for the better. Again, I thank you for your swift reply and genuine kindness.

Sincerely,

Angelica,

Junior Healer, St. Mungo's

* * *

FIN

* * *

Ending Notes: Credit has to be given to Aurette, whose story, "The tattered man," I pulled the inspiration from for Snape being so damaged that he can no longer speak. It's a beautiful yet sad story, and I HIGHLY recommend you read it (with a box of Kleenex nearby!). In fact, read all of her pieces- you won't find a bad one! Everything else was my invention, though it morphed into a much longer story than the one-shot I'd originally had planned. Apparently my muses are all very loquacious. *sigh*  
Please Review!


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